Magda invited me to take part in her Refashion Week, along with a handful of other Portuguese bloggers. What was the first thing that occurred to me when I read her email? Upcycling shirts, of course!

It's been hot around here and Rodrigo was in need of some cool pyjamas. Just like I did two years ago, I turned a bunch of old men's shirts into pj bottoms, but this time I used a different pattern: Oliver + S Sunny Day Shorts.

It's a free pattern but that doesn't mean that it's any less perfect that the other Oliver + S patterns. The only alterations I made were: 1- I French-seamed (is that a verb?) everything; 2- the front was sitting too high and that was causing some odd folds, so I lowered it a bit by cutting a soft rounded line across the front (I eyeballed this). I sewed size 4 for Rodrigo, who's turning 3 next month. I started by sewing size 3 (not pictured here) but even though they were fine for now, I know that in 6 months time they'll no longer fit (and he'll need them for the Portuguese summer).

I find this type of sewing incredibly satisfying. I guess nowadays no-one sews in order to save money but this is one of those projects where you only consume thread, electricity and your time. And it feels great to see your children wearing comfortable, crisp and well-cut clothes that have been made using up recycled materials.

As you know, I'm always upcycling men's shirts — I must to post a round-up of everything I've made so far — because they're a source of great quality fabrics and, let's be honest, it's free fabric! To make each of these shorts I only used the back of the shirt and one sleeve. With the leftovers I made bibs for Pedro!

Thanks, Magda, for inviting me to play along with you. If you'd like to see what the other talented bloggers have created, don't miss Magda's blog updates this week. And check out what Maria João has come up with today!

18 comments:

Men's shirts are made with beautiful cotton. The cotton fabric I buy these days, even liberty fabric seems to be coated with something that makes it seem a bit shiny and without that lovely feel I used to buy cotton for. It is very disappointing.

I always love to see your sewing, it's a great way to use the shirts. They look lovely.

I made some pjs for my boys before Christmas from old shirts, just using some of their current pjs as a pattern. Sadly my eldest is getting a bit too tall for shirt-pyjamas, so shirt-shorts shall be the way forward! (In a few months' time, we're under snow currently!)Continuing to enjoy the blog, and identify with some of your blogging/family/earning dilemmas...